Nearly A Year Later: Time for Western Kingston Commission of Enquiry Recommendations Update

Time has a way of passing, doesn’t it. Now here is an update – or rather, a series of notes that point to the need for an update – on the implementation of recommendations by the Western Kingston Commission of Enquiry. I am referring to the horrors of the security forces’ incursion into Tivoli Gardens in May, 2010, for which Prime Minister Andrew Holness has not yet given a fulsome apology. Seven long years have passed. Thank you, Susan Goffe for keeping these important issues on the front burner. Lest we forget.

Right Steps & Poui Trees

Next week will be seven years since the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) joint operation in Western Kingston which resulted in the death of more than 70 people. Next month will be a year since the report of the Western Kingston Commission of Enquiry was tabled in Parliament and made public. It is certainly time for the country to get a full update on the status of the recommendations made in the report.

This is one of the problems with the Commission of Enquiry process. An Enquiry takes place and at the end of the process, strong and pertinent recommendations are sometimes made. At that point, another process starts or should start, but there is no formal requirement ensuring that next phase. There should be a system whereby the government is required to outline publicly which of the recommendations it has accepted, what steps it intends…

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